Op-Ed: It's Time to Bring Back the Draft

A University of Pennsylvania professor is arguing that if Americans want a louder debate over the war in Iran, they should start by putting their own kids at risk of fighting it. In an essay at the Hill, historian Jonathan Zimmerman contends the near-absence of campus protest—despite more than 750 US casualties and tens of thousands of Iranian ones—has much to do with the end of the draft. Students, he writes, know there's no chance they'll be sent, unlike during Vietnam, when the possibility of conscription helped turn colleges into centers of antiwar activism.

By contrast, "I haven't heard a peep of antiwar sentiment as students return this semester," writes Zimmerman, who also makes an equity case for a reinstated draft. The Vietnam-era draft was riddled with deferments that favored the affluent and connected, he notes, citing Donald Trump, George W. Bush, and Bill Clinton as examples. A genuine, across-the-board draft could fix that. After all, he writes, "In a democracy, the burden of national defense should be shared." Read the full essay, which includes a mention of the satirical "Draft Barron Trump" movement.